Power Play
by MyIncentive
Summary: Had she known the consequences of such a sacrifice, maybe she would have thought twice before giving it up to him. CloudxTifa, some SephirothxTifa... slight SephirothxCloud? Complete.


**Power Play**

**Summary: **Had she known the consequences of such a sacrifice, maybe she would have thought twice before giving it up to him. CloudxTifa, some SephirothxTifa... slight SephirothxCloud?

**A/N:** It was a brainchild that struck me; I HAD to write it down. Sorry to those looking for AeriSeph, because there be none here. Arrr.

**Disclaimer: **Tifa, Cloud, Sephiroth and all other characters and settings mentioned belong to Square Enix, and if you see anything Disney-related in here, well, I don't own that either.

* * *

With a bang the door to Merlin's house burst open.

"Goddamn, what the –" Cid swung around on his seat. "Oh, it's just you. Damn, girl, do you think you could knock next time? Heart's gettin' too old these days to . . . hey, you all right? Yer looking awful pale."

Tifa steadied herself over the threshold, one gloved hand clutched to her face. Her eyes were blinking rapidly, even as she raised her head up to look at him.

"Is Merlin around?"

"Merlin?" Cid repeated. "Nah, he took off a short while ago. Hell if I know where. Why you ask?"

"I wanted to know if he had anything to help with a migraine."

"A migraine, eh? Hmm. Might have just the thing." Cid left his seat to rummage through a shelf of various sized potion bottles nearby. "Aha!" He finally pulled out a small blue one from the collection, and tossed it to Tifa. "That little beauty helped me a good lot some weeks back, after dealing out some justice to those wretched Heartless – I tell ya, those things can be a real pain in the ass sometimes."

"Thanks, Cid."

"No problem, kid. You just take it easy now."

As soon as the door creaked shut behind her, Tifa fumbled with the cork and tipped the whole potion down her throat. The empty bottle slipped through her fingers and smashed at her feet. She closed her eyes and thought back to the last time she saw Cloud.

_"No!"_

_Tifa punched and kicked, trying desperately to land a blow anywhere on Sephiroth's body. He dodged them all and then delivered a strike that had her skidding backward on her feet. She deftly evaded his blade over and over until he raised his sword, preparing to rush at her and cut her down once and for all._

_"Look out!"_

_Tifa had no time to move, but didn't have to; Cloud jumped into Sephiroth's line of fire, deflecting the silver haired swordsman's blade with his own. There he remained, sword poised and ready. _

_Frozen to the spot, Tifa stared at Cloud. He saved her life. She knew the very least she could do was try to return the__ favour__._

_"Cloud, you can have my light." Bound by words of utmost conviction, Tifa experienced the foreign sensation of being hollowed out, a part of her breaking away and leaving her. _

_"The light doesn't suit you." Sephiroth__ emphasised__ his point to Cloud with an abrupt wave of his sword._

_"I just . . . don't know." _

_Cloud lowered his head. _

_"Stop!" Sephiroth moved in for his next attack but drew back; Cloud was glowing. Tifa's light had reached him and he had accepted it. The two men rose and took their battle up in the air, one of them glancing back down at Tifa as he did. _

_A flash of light later, both swordsmen were gone._

Tifa opened her eyes. Her feet were moving, taking her past the castle gates and through the ravine trail. Her head was still throbbing; the potion wasn't as effective as she hoped it would be. To keep her mind off the pain, she gathered her thoughts to concentrate on each step she took.

_One_ . . .

Her right foot came forward.

_Two_ . . .

Then her left.

_Three_ . . .

Then her right again. She passed through a gap in the rock face at the end of the trail, which revealed a large and very narrow fissure beyond it. All around, sparkling crystals glowed bright blue.

. . . _Nine_ . . . _ten_ . . . _eleven_ . . .

She could feel the migraine getting worse.

_Twelve_ . . .

_Where are you, Cloud? I miss you._

_Do you now?_

Tifa stopped and spun around. "Who's there?" She backtracked in her steps, looking around for the owner of the voice but saw no one.

"The migraine, Tifa, it's just the migraine making you hear things," she mumbled. She came to a spot where the fissure widened out a little, and sat down near one of the glowing crystals. Tifa rested her head back against the jagged rock wall and rubbed at her temples. Oh, how she wished Cloud would come back, even for just a short while. Why did she always have to be the one running and searching and chasing after him? Couldn't he at least just stick around long enough for them to talk, maybe? She knew she wasn't the only one in Radiant Garden waiting for the blonde swordsman to return.

"How lonely you must be."

Sephiroth stepped into Tifa's sight, from the direction in which she came. Tifa was instantly on her feet, her fists raised.

"Where's Cloud?" It was the first question that came to her mind.

Sephiroth smirked. "He's around . . . but don't expect him to show up. Cloud should have known better than to underestimate the darkness." He took his time in adjusting the cuff on his right wrist.

"Are you saying Cloud lost the battle?" Tifa couldn't believe it.

"No, we were evenly matched. I would imagine he's just in hiding somewhere, recuperating, or perhaps nursing his pride. Whatever the case may be, he won't be saving you now."

Tifa narrowed her eyes. "And what makes you think I need to be saved, Sephiroth?" She flexed her fingers in warning, all thoughts of her migraine pushed to the back of her mind. Sephiroth smiled at her and spread his arms out wide. It was a gesture that welcomed her to do her worst. She didn't need to be shown twice.

With a frustrated cry Tifa charged toward him, bringing back her fist to deliver a hard punch to his face. What she didn't expect was to have her hand stop half an inch short of its intended target. Sephiroth had not moved.

"What are you doing to me?" she cried. She tried to move her fist – uncurl her fingers, jerk her hand back, trying to move it in any way at all – but no matter what she did, it wouldn't budge. Sephiroth slid a hand over her immobile one, stroking it with his thumb. From an obscure angle, it might have looked like he was holding her hand to his cheek.

"Did you not know, Tifa Lockhart, did you not know what would happen?" Receiving nothing but a disgusted look, Sephiroth trailed his hand up Tifa's arm. To her dismay, she discovered she was losing control over her whole arm as his fingers moved higher; he was slowly turning her into a statue. "No!" Tifa swung her other fist, her free fist, to knock away his hand, only to have it frozen in place as well. She was truly and utterly stuck.

"See this control I have over you?" the swordsman said, and withdrew his hand. Tifa's arms remained in place. "By using the power of darkness under my command, I can manipulate your body into doing anything I want it to. I can make you run, crawl, bend, strip, fight – even choke yourself. And really, it's all thanks to you."

"Me? But h-how can that be?" Tifa stammered. "You're the embodiment of Cloud's darkness, not mine! You shouldn't be able to control me! If anything, you –"

"– should be able to control Cloud, yes," Sephiroth finished. "But alas, the light inside him proves to hold its own against the darkness quite well, which as I recall, you helped see to by giving up your own light to him. Correct?"

Tifa nodded slowly.

"I wonder, then," he continued, "if you had known the full consequences of making such a choice, would you have still given away your light as freely and recklessly as you did."

"I don't understand."

"Do you not see, yet, what I'm trying to point out?" Sephiroth was staring at Tifa's outstretched arms, which made her appear to be striking a bizarre fighter's pose. A moment later, both arms were down by her sides. He raised his hand over her chest, and before Tifa could question him on what he was doing, she gasped in shock; she could feel something cold and heavy uncoiling inside her, squirming to break out. Tifa forced herself to look down and had to fight off a wave of nausea: there, being drawn out of her body was something that resembled solid smoke collecting itself into a small, dense sphere in Sephiroth's palm. He lifted it in front of her to see.

"This is your darkness – and it's mine to control. You may not have realised it at the time, but from the moment you relinquished your light to Cloud, you also relinquished your darkness . . . to me. You've entered our equation to make it three – you, Cloud, and myself. Just as Cloud and I are linked, so now are you to us. This is our fate. You have only yourself to blame."

Tifa shook her head, stunned. Was it true? Had she really made the biggest mistake of her life by giving up her light, and therefore, her darkness? "But this just can't be," she said faintly. "You can control me, and yet–yet you can't control Cloud?"

"Cloud is the only one who has the ability to truly destroy me. So long as he has his light, we'll always be even. In your case, the darkness you consequently gave up is in my possession to use as I please, and believe me, I plan to put it to very good use."

"You're going to use me to get to Cloud, aren't you?" Tifa said, feeling more than just a little helpless. She struggled to hold back the tears.

"Yes," Sephiroth answered. The small black sphere in his hand dissipated. He smiled darkly at Tifa, and she felt her stomach lurch in dread. "But first, I think I'll do a trial run with this newfound power of mine and test how effective it _really_ is."

Spurred on by an unseen force beyond her control, Tifa's body moved forward, against the hysterical pleads in her mind. She couldn't even scream aloud.

_Cloud, anyone, please come find me __– please! _

She rested her hands on Sephiroth's shoulders and looked up into his eyes.

_Cloud, I need you!_

She leaned in on her tiptoes. He lowered his face to meet hers.

_CLOUD!_

– – – – – – – – – –

Cloud jerked his head up to glare at Leon.

"What are you trying to say?"

Leon crossed his arms and took a step forward. "What I'm saying, is that maybe if you spent more time staying in _one place_, instead of vanishing for days on end and getting everyone worried about you – then she might be standing here with us right now. It's been nearly a week since anyone last saw her."

The blonde swordsman stared at the group in front of him. "Then why haven't you sent anyone out to find her?" he finally said.

Cid spat out his toothpick. "Goddammit Spike!" he shouted, throwing his hands up in aggravation. "How were we supposed to know she was missing? We all thought she was with you!" He sighed and shook his head. "If only I'd known at the time when she came in about somethin' to help with a migraine . . ."

"She had a migraine?"

"Guess you wouldn't know about that either, huh?" Yuffie's hands were fixed to her hips. "I bet you wouldn't even notice her if she stood right in front of you, waving her hands in your face."

". . . I would."

"Not the point!" Cid yelled. "Instead of standing around here arguin', we should be out there trying to find her! What are we waiting for?"

"Fine – I'll go out and check in Dark Depths. The rest of you can split up and head off in different directions, but Aerith stays behind. Clear?" Cloud turned to leave.

"Cloud, wait." Someone tugged at his arm and Cloud looked around to see Aerith behind him. She clasped her hands to her chest, gazing down at them sadly. "I just want you to kn. . .be careful, okay? Bring her back safely to us. We're both counting on you."

"I know." She moved in to hug him before quickly stepping back. With one last forlorn smile, she left his side and walked away.

As swift as his boots and dignity would allow, Cloud followed the path that led on from the castle gates. He trekked across steep slopes, in the face of winds that whipped his torn sleeve back and revealed a scar on his arm still in the process of healing – a memento of his last fight with the embodiment of his darkness, Sephiroth. Cloud kept his gaze trained forward. If he hadn't, he might have discovered the glittering object lying directly in his path before his foot had crushed it with an audible crack. He bent down to retrieve it.

It was Tifa's earring.

"Tifa," he whispered, and closed his eyes, devastated. He knew someone like her would never be so careless in leaving one of her pieces of jewellery behind. Something wasn't right. He could _feel_ it. He knew where she would be.

Cloud straightened up, the earring tucked in his pocket. He dropped all pretences in maintaining his dignity – no was around to see, anyway – and broke into an all-out run, out of the fissure and into the open, across the barren plain towards Dark Depths. Every second counted.

"Tifa!" Cloud could see someone on the ground, several strides shy of the cliff edge. It was Tifa, with her face downcast, arms hugging her legs to her chest. He skidded to a halt and crouched down next to her. "Tifa . . ." She looked a mess; her feet were bare and covered in dirt; the dark leather top she wore was unzipped, frayed edges blowing with the wind; her hair was bunched in tangles and her eyes were bloodshot. The only sign of acknowledgement she gave was partially turning her head toward him, as if hearing a noise in the distance.

If there was ever a moment when Cloud Strife was likely to let his emotions get the better of him, it was then. Hesitantly he reached out a hand to her arm.

"Get away from me!" Tifa swiped his hand away and scuttled backward – toward the edge. Cloud's eyes widened in alarm.

"Tifa–Tifa it's me! It's –"

"No! Stop!" She moved back the further he advanced. Her fingers brushed the verge of the cliff, small rocks falling away at her touch. Cloud stopped.

"It's Cloud, Tifa. It's me. I came to find you." He spoke in the softest voice he could muster. Tifa focused her gaze on to him.

". . . Cloud?" She gasped in surprise when the ground under her hands gave way. In a flash Cloud was there, grabbing her flailing forearms and pulling her back. "Oh Cloud," she sobbed into his collared vest, arms clinging to his sides. "He got to me – Sephiroth – he got to me and was so strong, too strong I–I tried to fight him b-but –" She broke off and continued to weep.

Cloud inhaled deeply through his nostrils, overwhelmed by the tide of anger and regret washing over him. He held Tifa gently by the arms all the while her tears poured out. Once she finished wiping at her eyes, she looked up, and gave him a shaky smile.

"I'm glad you're here, Cloud. I knew you'd come for me. You always do."

Cloud didn't know what to say to that, so he said nothing.

Tifa raised her hand to stroke his cheek. "I hope you know you've always been my hero," she said.

"I'm . . . I'm not a hero."

"And spoken like a true one as well." Tifa laughed. "But then again, I shouldn't have expected any different from you. That's just who you are, isn't it, Cloud?"

"I . . ."

"So modest, so quiet, so reserved – tell me Cloud, what are you thinking? Do you ever think of me? Or is it _her _that you think of? Will I ever get to know what goes on behind those two big blue eyes of yours?" Cloud blinked; where was the broken woman who was crying herself dry in his arms just a minute ago?

"You probably know I've always liked you, Cloud," Tifa went on, seemingly immersed in her own rambling. "I mean, haven't I made myself obvious enough already? Everywhere you go, I follow, always hoping you might just stop one day and actually _see _me. But I don't think you do. I'm always chasing you down, because I'm scared of never seeing you again if I ever lost sight of you. Sometimes, I drive myself crazy just _thinking _of you, of wanting you, of devouring you . . ." She licked her lips in a seductive manner, lowering her gaze to his mouth. ". . . light and all."

"Light an–?"

She yanked his head down with both hands for a fervent kiss, cutting him off. The move came so quick and unexpected that Cloud stumbled forward, taking them both closer to the edge again. In spite of himself, he closed his eyes, hands twitching – but otherwise didn't respond. His brain tried to process all Tifa had said, but he found his thoughts drowning in those more insistent, demanding he do something more _physical_ than just stand there. Meeting resistance with his lips, Tifa moved on to his jaw. Her knee was raising itself dangerously close to an area Cloud didn't want it to go.

"Your sword, Cloud. Give me your sword," she murmured, moving down his neck.

Cloud balked. Did she mean . . .?

"The sword on your back, Cloud," Tifa chuckled lowly. "It's in the way." She effortlessly slipped behind him and pulled his weapon out from its constraint. What she did next, Cloud would never forget: with a great heave, Tifa threw his sword far over the edge of Dark Depths. She dusted off her hands and turned to face him. "There. Things shall be much easier now for us – to make you realise."

Cloud stared at her. "Make me realise what?" he said slowly. He still couldn't believe what she did. All heated thoughts he had concerning the two of them vanished.

Tifa's gaze transferred from him to something beyond his shoulder. The corners of her mouth twitched. Cloud turned around.

"The truth, Cloud. We want you to realise the truth." Sephiroth was walking toward them. Tifa went to meet him halfway but Cloud regained his senses in time for him to grab her by the wrist and stop her.

"You can't handle him, Tifa. Let me –"

"_No._" Tifa wrenched her arm out of his grip and pushed him back, hard. "Don't you _ever _tell me what I can and can't do." To prove her point, she marched her way over to Sephiroth and pulled him down to share a violent kiss, almost in the same way she did to the blonde swordsman. The only difference was that Sephiroth was returning it with just as much, if not more, interest. When they were finished, Tifa turned to face Cloud again and said, "Think you can handle that, Cloud Strife?"

It was more than a blow to the gut. Cloud kept his expressionless mask carefully in place; inside, he was fuming.

"What have you done with her?" he demanded of Sephiroth. Sephiroth arched an eyebrow.

"'Done'? I believe the question you should be asking is how did this happen. As you know, darkness and light are, for the most part, equal entities. They are forever in conflict with each other, yet neither can exist on its own. Do you remember our last battle?"

"Cut to the chase."

"So courteous. Well, I assume you'll also remember Tifa being there . . ." He paused to gaze into Tifa's eyes. Cloud knew Sephiroth was only making a show to rile him further, but it worked. He grit his teeth and waited for him to continue. ". . . Such a devoted woman, to give up her light to someone who doesn't appreciate its full worth. Do you know what happens, Cloud, to those who give up their light to others?"

Cloud didn't answer. He knew the silver-haired man well enough to know he always ended up answering his own questions.

"They also give up their darkness. Her light may lie within you, but her darkness is with me – a good thing, really. Under my guidance, I nurtured her darkness, let it flourish unhindered. I'll admit it was difficult at first, always having to _force _her to obey, using the darkness, but I was patient. I eventually wore her defenses down to a point where she was desperate enough to reach out to the darkness herself." Sephiroth trailed a hand through the messy tangles of Tifa's hair. She leaned in to his touch. "And just look at her now," he said softly. "Nearly all but consumed by the darker part of her heart . . . unafraid . . . so eager to please . . . it won't be long till I'll have you like this too, Cloud."

Cloud couldn't take in anymore words. Driven by rage, hurt, and fear, he rushed at Sephiroth, thinking of nothing but ripping apart every inch of him with his bare hands. Before he knew it, he was flat on his stomach with dirt in his mouth. Tifa stood in front of him, barring the way. She bared her teeth threateningly at him.

Sephiroth laughed. "See what happens when you try to attack?" he said as Cloud rolled to his side to spit out the dirt. "She'll fight you to the death if need be. Now do you really want that weighing down on your soul, knowing that to defeat me, you'll have to go through her first?"

Cloud slowly rose to his feet. He glared. "Let her go – it's me you're after. She has no place in our affairs," he said.

"You're in no position to bargain, Strife. She's connected to us both – there would be no way in leaving her behind. Not now, not ever." Sephiroth turned to face the subject of their discussion, and touched her cheek. Tifa suddenly dropped to the ground.

"Tifa!" Cloud collapsed onto the ground next to her, pulling her into his lap. "Tifa . . ."

"Don't be fooled; she's not dead. This is a final reminder of what you will never have again."

"What are you on about," Cloud snarled up at Sephiroth, who had turned on his heel and walked away. Cloud didn't bother to find out what he was doing but instead looked down to Tifa, whose eyes were half-open.

"I'm so sorry . . . Cloud . . . I'm so sorry . . ." Tifa's voice was weak. "I'm sorry . . . I didn't . . . know . . ." Her eyes closed again. She expelled a sigh. Cloud hugged her limp form to his chest and scowled when he felt something wet roll down his cheek. "No . . . I'm sorry, Tifa. For everything." He kissed her on the forehead and scooped her body into his arms. He stood up.

"When you're ready."

Cloud saw that a black portal had been summoned. Sephiroth smiled malevolently. "Say goodbye to all you knew, Cloud. The world of darkness is waiting."

As the portal closed behind them, a piece of jewellery flashed and fell to the ground. It was all that had been found two days later, as well as a broken sword covered in bandages.

No one in Radiant Garden ever saw the three again.

* * *

**A/N: **

Moral of the story? When approached with an offer of free light, don't say you don't know - say **NO**. Be **bold **about it. Ask them for a lifetime of servitude instead. Unless of course, you already HAVE that. In that case, don't be like Cloud and ignore it – take advantage of it today. (Note to self: stop putting lame jokes in A/N's)

Gee, I feel like writing some violent A/S stuff now. Reviews are appreciated!


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